Compared with the local labor market
Hydrologist 2 pay vs. Minnesota
Across all employers in Minnesota, the median wage for Hydrologists — about 300 people — is $94,580. Natural Resources Department pays a median base salary of $79,523 for this role, 16% below that figure — about the 26th percentile of local pay for the occupation.
Where Natural Resources Department sits in the local pay range
$68,620
$79,000
$94,580
$105,440
$125,300
Natural Resources Department median · $79,523
The bar is the range of annual wages for Hydrologists across every employer in Minnesota, from the 10th to the 90th percentile, with the middle 50% highlighted. The marker shows Natural Resources Department’s median base salary for this role. Both figures are base pay only.
And across the country
Nationwide, the median wage for Hydrologists — about 5,850 people — is $96,600. Natural Resources Department’s median base salary is 18% below that national figure, about the 28th percentile of pay for the occupation nationally.
$64,020
$77,210
$96,600
$122,830
$153,130
Natural Resources Department median · $79,523
Local and national wages differ for reasons beyond how well a job pays — cost of living, the mix of employers, and local demand for the occupation all move the Minnesota range relative to the national one.
Computed over the 75 of 85 people in this role paid at least $25,000in base salary. The rest are part-year or part-time records, whose actual pay isn’t comparable to a full-time annual wage.
Median total compensation for this role at Natural Resources Department is $76,044, which includes overtime and employer-paid benefits. The benchmark above excludes both, so total compensation is deliberately not compared against it.
Benchmark: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2025). BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) covers all employers in the area — private, non-profit, and government alike — so this is a comparison against the whole local labor market for the occupation, not against private-sector pay. OEWS wages are straight-time pay and exclude overtime, shift differentials, and employer-paid benefits, so the government figure shown here is base pay on the same basis. Total compensation is not comparable to it. Job titles are matched to the closest standard occupation, so the comparison is between similar work rather than an identical job classification.
Compare jurisdictions
Hydrologist beyond Minnesota
This role is reported in 2 jurisdictions. In Minnesota, the median of $87,585 ranks #1 of 2. See Hydrologist across all of Minnesota →
Highest-paying jurisdictions for this role
Median total compensation for comparable Hydrologistroles in other jurisdictions. Titles are matched by normalized name across sources, not identical job classification, and pay is not cost-of-living adjusted. Each bar links to that jurisdiction’s page for the role.